Minka Kelly is looking back on a tough period in her life.
In an excerpt from her new memoir Tell Me Everything, Kelly reflected on her "toxic" relationship with Friday Night Lights costar Taylor Kitsch — and the messy aftermath following their split.
"All the effort I might have invested in connecting consistently with the girls on the show went to Taylor," the actress wrote, per the Daily Beast. "So when my relationship with Taylor became toxic, I had no one to turn to."
Kelly and Kitsch, both 42, starred on the NBC sports drama as Lyla Garrity and Tim Riggins, respectively, through most of the show's five-season run. The two actors played on-screen love interests that experienced a great deal of turmoil — and according to Kelly, the drama extended off screen as well.
"Life became very difficult both on and off set whenever we broke up. We were young and had very few tools to handle our emotions and personal grievances," she wrote.
"On the days we had to work together and were broken up, he didn't want to be in the hair and makeup trailer at the same time I was. We couldn't ride in the van together from base camp to set for the same reason," she continued. "On those days, the tension on set was high and everyone felt the awkwardness."
Kelly claimed that after she broke things off with Kitsch, the Friday Night Lights cast sided with her ex-boyfriend. But she attributed this to Kitsch being more comfortable "sharing his feelings" with everyone.
"I'd show up to work with a smile on my face thinking I was being professional, while everyone else felt sorry for the guy whose heart had just been broken," she said. "My co-workers weren't taking me out for drinks after work to mend my broken heart; they were taking him out."
Admitting that the pair "shacked up" too soon, Kelly also cited being "very young and very sensitive" as the reason for the relationship's demise. Now, she considers the entire situation as a learning experience.
"Vulnerability begets connection, as evidenced by the outcome of both our coping mechanisms," she added. "My tough-guy approach only left me alone. If you behave as if you need no one, if no one around you knows any better, most certainly, no one will, in fact, be there."
Kelly and Kitsch kept their relationship private during their time together, though fans long suspected an off-screen romance between the two in spite of no official confirmation. Kitsch finally confirmed the relationship during a 2018 interview on Andy Cohen Live, but he didn't provide any further insight.
Tell Me Everything will be released on May 2.
